URCHINS

In the artwork, Urban Urchins, twigs of various sizes, each individual twig smeared with clay and capped with clay balls, have been stuck into respective lumps of clay. The assemblage is reminiscent of sea urchins on an ocean floor. Figuratively, an ‘urchin’ means a ‘spoilt, mischievous child’, and this is what is indirectly emphasized on, the strength of the influence emanating from primary social groups, especially youth groups or more precisely the peer group syndrome, since twigs are actually parts of a tree and can be regarded as the “child” of the parent, since they can be cultured to grow into them.
The differences in the sizes of each twig in a bunch characterize the attitude of an individual identifying him or her in a group that accepts their respective personalities and lauds their respective ideals. The artist believes that most of the social anomalies haunting the society in these recent times could be traced down to the delicate period in a child’s growth between pre-teen to adolescence, and much of the negative influences they embrace in their urban settings. He also posits that this can have an impact on the developmental trend of a society at large whether politically, economically or otherwise.